Improving financial and patient outcomes: the future of demand management

Demand management has evolved from early managed care models that sought to curtail rising costs through demand-side utilization controls. The first generation of demand management relied heavily on financial incentives for consumers and physicians to demand fewer and less costly resources. The second generation of demand management complemented financial incentives with clinically focused strategies. Often, these strategies were implemented directly by the payer on through a primary care physician gatekeeper. The current and coming generation of demand management activities emphasizes informed consumer choice and active participation in preventative health care, resource utilization decisions, and customization of healthcare services. This personal health management aligns financial incentives, clinical care protocols, and consumer decision-support systems to balance outcomes and resource consumption.